A tribal court on Monday declared two girls vani in Nawabwala on Monday. District Police officer (DPO) Shakir Hussain Dawar said Shakir and Imran allegedly had relations with Malik Sher Shahjahan’s daughter. Police said he called a panchayat to decide on the issue.
A panchayat, headed by Malik Ata Muhammad Jaskani, decided that Shakir’s 14-year-old sister Samia would be married to Shahjahan’s 25-year-old son Ramazan and Imran’s eight-year-old sister Saima to a nine-year-old nephew of Shahjahan.
The DPO said that when police got information about the incident, they arrested Muhammad Ramzan, who had solemnised the marriage, as well as two panchayat members.
He said the police were still searching for 11 people, including panchayat members and relatives of the ‘grooms’.
He said police had recovered both girls.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2014.